Bulaga reportedly done for season with torn ACL

Aug. 5, 2013

Bryan Bulaga sustained a season-ending knee injury at the Green Bay Packers’ Family Night scrimmage Saturday night, according to a report by ProFootballTalk.com.

That leaves the Packers with two primary alternatives to replace him at the crucial left tackle position for the 2013 season.

One is moving Marshall Newhouse from right tackle to left tackle – he started at left tackle the last two seasons before the coaching staff flip-flopped him and Bulaga in the offseason.

Or the Packers could play fourth-round draft pick David Bakhtiari at left tackle. Bakhtiari has been one of the surprise standouts in his first week of training camp and had been playing left tackle with the No. 2 offensive line until late last week, when he moved into the competition for the starting job at right tackle. Bakhtiari played left tackle in college at Colorado.

Whichever one (Newhouse or Bakhtiari) doesn’t move to left tackle would be the probable starter at right tackle, though second-year pro Don Barclay could be in the running at right tackle as well.

A source familiar with Bulaga’s condition said earlier Sunday that the team’s medical staff examined Bulaga’s knee Sunday morning and was determining the severity of injury and best course of action.

Bulaga took all the snaps with the Packers’ No. 1 offensive line in the scrimmage Saturday night at Lambeau Field and was walking around afterwards. The Packers were hoping those were signs that the injury wasn’t serious.

However, players sometimes partially tear their anterior cruciate ligament and still function for the rest of a game because there’s enough ligament attached to keep the knee from giving out for the short term. But the ACL doesn’t heal on its own, so a partial tear requires the same reconstruction surgery and nine- to 12-month recovery as a full tear.

This will be the second straight year Bulaga has sustained a season-ending injury. Last year he missed the final seven regular-season games and two playoffs because of a broken bone in his hip.